SC orders Rs 25 lakh compensation to convict kept in jail for extra 4.5 yrs

NEW DELHI: In a shocking case, a man whose life sentence was commuted to seven years' imprisonment by Madhya Pradesh high court ended up spending 11 years, 6 months and 24 days in jail as he and the jail authority were not informed about the high court order.

Coming to his relief, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the state govt to pay him compensation of Rs 25 lakh for his suffering and the violation of his fundamental rights.The man had been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in a rape case in July 2005 but was released on bail by the high court when he filed an appeal. In Dec 2013, HC cancelled his bail and he was sent to jail. His appeal against his conviction and the life sentence was finally decided in Oct 2017 by Madhya Pradesh high court, which reduced his sentence to seven years' rigorous imprisonment.But he overstayed in jail beyond his seven-year sentence, with the matter coming to light only when advocate Mahfooz Nazki stumbled upon the HC's 2017 verdict when he was going through the file on June 6, and he immediately forwarded a copy of the order to the Sagar Jail superintendent, leading to the release of the prisoner.Taking note of the shocking error, SC sought an explanation from the state govt for how the convict was made to stay in jail after undergoing the sentence awarded to him.

The state, in its response, took the stand that there had been a communication gap due to which the jail authority was not informed about the Madhya Pradesh high court order.Keeping in mind the fact that the man was imprisoned for almost four years and seven months beyond his sentence term for no fault of his, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan directed the state govt to award him compensation of Rs 25 lakh.